In the recent times the astronomical community acquired the possibility to observe with the very large telescopes, up to 10 meter. However, the role of the small and middle class instruments is still very important. They can serve for the monitoring of variable objects, for the follow-up observations of the relative bright stars and for other purposes.

Byurakan observatory operates several telescopes which belong to these classes. In the recent years they were modernized and refurbished and equipped with new light detecting systems.

This workshop is planned as a meeting to discuss the future programs for these instruments and their possibilities and role in the modern astrophysical researches.

Me, the undersigned, as chair of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the Fifth Workshop for Robotic Autonomous Observatories, is pleased to invite you to give a talk entitled “ISON Network Tracking of Space Debris: current status and achievements“. The AstroRob2017 workshop will take place in the location of Mazagуn (Huelva province, Spain) on 16-20 October 2017. The conference is hosted by the Instituto de Astrofнsica de Andalucнa (IAA-CSIC) and Universities of Mбlaga and Huelva. Additional information regarding the Conference can be found at: astrorob.iaa.es.

Perez Leon J.E., Esteban C., Molotov I.E., Perez-Tijerina E. New observatory of the Autonomous university of Nuevo Leon in Mexico joined to the ISON project. Abstract book of X international conference Near-Earth Astronomy. October 2-6, 2017, Krasnodar, p. 52.

On behalf of the International Program Committee, I am glad to confirm our 5th workshop on Space Debris Modeling and Remediation in Paris, CNES-HQ, next 25, 26 & 27 June 2018.

It will be organized more or less in the same way as the four previous editions in the main meeting room of the CNES-HQ in Les Halles, in the center of Paris. We plan to start by 10 am the first day Monday 25th in order to give some time for people to arrive in Paris, and to stop by 1 or 2 pm the 3rd day Wednesday 17th, which should lead to plenty of time for presentations and discussions; with the same timing last time we had for 52 oral presentations + 10 posters, and managed to have long pauses in between to exchange among us.

We plan to cover more or less the same topics than in 2016:

- Modelling, including specificities coming from small sats and constellations,

- High level actions, road-maps, associated to Debris Remediation

- Remediation system studies, including those relative to small debris,

- Design of specific concepts, including new ideas relative to Just-in-time Collision Avoidance and proposals devoted to large constellations and small satellites,

Topics related to Protection, such as shielding, are excluded as they are already well addressed in dedicated conferences including IAC A6.3 session. The topics of “End of Life” and “Collision Avoidance” are also excluded from the frame of this workshop, as they are dealt with during two dedicated CNES workshops every two years

As we did last time with success, we welcome high quality posters which will be displayed in the main room, with a very high visibility and time for discussions during the coffee breaks.

As usual the good news is that there is no registration fee, the bad news is that we are limited to a maximum of 130 participants, for safety reasons in the HQ room. The Program Committee may therefore be obliged to make a selection in the participants, based on the numbers of requests from each single entity, trying to have an as wide as possible representation.

It is my pleasure to announce the return of the International Workshop on Space Debris Re-entry, hosted on 28 February & 01 March 2018 on the premises of the European Space Operations Centre (ESA/ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany.

The first international workshop on re-entry of space debris was organised by ESA in 1983 in response to the re-entries of Skylab and Cosmos-1402, and has been repeated over the past decades in response to other significant re-entry events. Since then the topic has broadened from individual re-entries to include, among other, full object catalogue predictions, orbital lifetime assessment, and thermo-mechanical fragmentation in the lower atmosphere.

Of particular interest for this iteration is the motion and break-up of large and heavy artificial objects in the lower thermosphere. In general, contributions are sought on the following topics (non-exhaustive):

The intended audience for this workshop are academia, spacecraft, launcher, and space surveillance operators, space agencies, and industry. Participation is free of charge. To register, send an e-mail to reentry_support@esa.int including the name, contact details, and affiliation of the registrant. A confirmation will follow. Further information will be distributed via https://reentry.esoc.esa.int/admin/index.html#home_workshop .

We highly encourage you to add an abstract for a 20 minutes talk to your registration, to facilitate the exchange of ideas on the topic of space debris re-entries. Please distribute this notification within your own network.

Knowing the likelihood of collision for satellites operating in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) is of extreme importance and interest to the operators and the wider global community. After careful analysis, the SDA Executive Members along with their Chief Technology Advisor AGI, have come to the conclusion that a non-negligible and inadequately mitigated debris collision risk exists. At last month’s International Astronautics Congress (IAC) the SDA published a jointly-authored technical paper which provides a detailed study of the geostationary orbit collision risk. This paper comprehensively describes the analyses performed which led to conclusion that the collision risk is up to four orders of magnitude higher than indicated by some previous studies. Additionally, collisions at GEO are more likely to generate debris due to higher closing velocities than previously understood. At this session the authors of the paper will present the technical analysis and how these risks can be effectively managed.